Broken Paladins
by Rangergirl3
Summary: Haggar has the Paladins, Coran, and Allura at her mercy, and Zarkon has taken back the Black Lion. Or has he? Lots of Space Family and Shiro/Allura. Eleventh story in the 'Lost Paladins' series. (Can also be read on its own). The story 'Scavenger Hunt' explains how they all ended up captured. If you'd like to read how all that came about, you can go straight to SH's Ch 8-Ch12.
1. Prologue (Allies in Danger)

Rayzor told himself it was perfectly natural to be concerned when the shuttle did not appear at the specified coordinates.

It was likely that the Paladins and the Alteans in the shuttle had taken a longer route, to try and shake their Galra pursurers.

That had to be it.

After he'd heard nothing from them for an additional hour past their expected arrival time, he stopped telling himself that it was likely that they were going through a rough patch of an asteroid field and that they also had their communicators off for security purposes.

Swearing to himself, he called up his comms officer and told him to scan any Galra chatter within five lightyears of their location. The only drawback of this tactic - being able to listen to the enemy - was that you couldn't extend your reach too far, or listen for too long, for fear of being noticed, tracked down, and killed.

It was how Sendak had found and killed Arris.

As he waited for word, Rayzor ground his teeth and tapped the claws of one hand on the arm of his captains chair.

When word did come, it was even worse than he had feared.

It seemed the Galra had indeed captured the Black Paladin, along with his Lion - and - and then they had -

The comms officer swallowed, almost unable to continue.

"Proceed," Rayzor said. He kept his voice flat, unemotional, but he felt his clawed fingers dig into the arms of his captains chair.

The comms officer told him that the Druids had captured all of them - both Alteans and all five of the Paladins, along with the Black Lion.

Rayzor nodded, keeping his face impassive, making his decision in a heartbeat.

"Ready a shuttle for me," he said, rising to his feet. "And while you're at it, tell the Council I am going to get more information on our allies' situation."

As Rayzor left the deck, he was already planning out a strategy that that might let him find out more information - where the shuttle and the Black Lion had been taken, which Paladins - if any - were still alive - if the Princess and her Royal Advisor were -

Rayzor felt his lips curl into a snarl, and he stopped walking. He forced himself to take several calming breaths before he continued towards the bay where his shuttle waited for him. He'd once heard Arris call the shuttle a pod, but the terms were practically interchangeable.

"Sir!" one of his officers said, following him out of the control room and down the hall. "Sir, the pod you're going to use doesn't have a shielding device - you'll have to call down to the surface and ask for permission to land, once you get back - sir -"

"I _know_ , Lieutenant," Rayzor shot over his shoulder. "I'm well aware of the safety protocols."

Of course he did. Any solider would tell you that shuttles or pods or whatever they were called were too risky to equip with the shielding devices that protected the main ships of their small fleet, in case of capture by the Galra.

The officer went quiet then, realizing that Rayzor knew full well the risks of the situation he was choosing to go into.

He could be captured by the Druids. Or he could run out of fuel, and his life support systems would fail. Even if none of those things happened, if he lost the use of his comms he would not be able to call in a landing request for his shuttle. He would either crash onto his own home planet or be forced to land on a distant moon, with no certain way of getting back home.

"Sir…" the officer said, in a low voice. "Sir, there's no need for you to -"

As Rayzor reached the shuttle, he turned and looked his subordinate square in the eyes.

"There's _every_ need for it, Lieutenant," he said. "We don't leave allies behind - especially not to the Druids. Now take these men home, and let me go about my business."

"The Council-"

"The _Council_ ," Rayzor said, "put _me_ in charge of this ship. And now, I'm putting _you_ in charge of this ship."

He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Get our men home," he said. "I'll do what I can. If you don't hear from me within the next seventy-two hours, elect someone to take my place as leader of the guard."

As Rayzor launched his pod out of the bay, he did not look back at his ship as it turned and headed back towards his home planet.

His mind was solely focused on the goal ahead.

He would discover whoever was still alive. And then, he would develop a strategy to get them out.

They were his allies, after all.

He felt beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead and wiped them off quickly. Then he gripped hold of the ship's controls with his claws to keep them from trembling.

As long as there was a chance they were alive, he would try to find them, try to get them out. He would never leave anyone he knew - _anyone_ \- in the hands of the Druids. It was a fate worse than death.

Rayzor could only hope that if anyone was still alive, he would get to them before the Druids broke them.


	2. Dark Champion

_Champion,_ Haggar said. _Wake up. I want you to see something._

Haggar's voice echoed through Shiro's dreams. They weren't pleasant dreams - they almost never were - but for a brief instant, he thought that - maybe - it was just part of another nightmare. But then he felt a clawed hand grip hold of his hair, and his eyes shot open out of reflex.

Haggar was smiling into his face, the claws of one hand gripped tight in his hair, forcing him to meet her eyes, which were just as yellow as he remembered, her smile just as sharp.

Shiro tried to recoil away from her, but he couldn't. He glanced down and saw that most of his body was encased in what felt like an upright metal coffin.

The witch was standing in front of him, almost eye-to-eye with him, and they were in the center of a - an absolutely giant room. He could sense the space, even though there wasn't much light in the room.

He couldn't really move his body at all. He was able to move his head from side to side - or he would have if Haggar hadn't had a death grip on his hair - and his shoulders were free, but - but that was it.

He tried to clench his cybernetic hand into a fist, to try and power it up, to cut himself free, but he couldn't even move his fingers…

He couldn't move. _He couldn't_ _ **move**_ _._

Panic suddenly seized his mind, every fiber of his being. Sweat stood out on his forehead, and he felt his mouth go dry. He had to swallow twice before he could speak.

"Why am I here?" he snarled at the Druid. He didn't know why she hadn't taken him to the experimentation chamber.

 _You are here to watch,_ she replied, in a tone that was satisfied, almost gloating.

Shiro felt his heart rate slow minimally at that. He had expected her to say something about how she would use pain to break him, or how she had something special planned for him. She'd always started off with that before.

Apparently today was different.

"Watch - what, exactly?" he snarled at her again, unable to keep from asking the question.

Then he realized that someone was standing beside Haggar - someone who looked exactly like Shiro. The white shock of hair, the scar on his face, even the way he stood with his arms crossed.

But the eyes - the eyes were yellow - and they were looking at Shiro with a cold, vindictive pleasure, the mouth smiling in an expression completely devoid of warmth, of life, of anything remotely human.

 _You're going to watch me destroy your team,_ it said, and its voice was raspy, only slightly different from Haggar's own.

Shiro felt a sudden surge of fear so intense, it was as if a surge of electricity had just coursed throughout his entire body.

Haggar enjoyed the look on Champion's face then, the emotions that crossed his face as he looked between her and the Dark Champion.

Standing beside her, Dark Champion chuckled, and the sound made the Black Paladin shudder.

"You're _lying_!" he said then, and his voice broke as he said it. "You don't - you don't have them - they got out in time, I saw them - I _saw_ them escape -"

In answer, the figure by the witch pressed a few controls on a digital console. Suddenly, lights came on nearby, and Shiro could suddenly see into six nearby rooms, each one small, but each containing a member of his team.

His team.

His team had been captured.

They hadn't made it out.

He'd stayed behind for nothing.

Each of them were secured against the far wall of their cell by their wrists and ankles, and although they looked battered, all of them were breathing. None of them were awake yet - a small mercy, but one that could not last for much longer.

Shiro looked back at the witch then, and she smiled at the despair in his expression. He swallowed once, and his dark grey eyes darted back towards the cell where the Princess was.

 _It's no use, Champion,_ she said to him. _You can see and hear them, but they cannot see or hear outside their cells unless I permit it. You are alone._

The witch released her grip on his hair and turned back towards the thing beside her.

 _Start with the Red Paladin,_ she said, and Shiro felt something like panic course through him.

"No!" he spat, trying to wrench free, with no success. The yellow-eyed copy of himself turned its head towards Keith's cell, and Shiro felt tears prick at his eyes, and he tried not to let them fall.

" _No_ ," he said again, and heard his voice break as he did. He knew Haggar would show no mercy - she never had, she never would - but he couldn't stop himself from asking. He was already saying the words.

"Don't hurt them -" Shiro said. He thought he heard someone coming up behind him, but all of his attention was on Haggar and the thing beside her. "Please - don't hurt th-"

Mid-word, Shiro felt something cold and metallic clamp onto the lower half of his face, forcing his jaws tight shut. Whatever it was covered his nose, mouth, and chin, and then he felt something like a strap or a buckle being tightened behind his head.

He snarled, tried to loosen the device by shaking his head, but it was already tightly secured. It pressed tight against his skin, and he felt his blood boil in anger. One of the other Druids must have come up behind him and gagged him with this - this _thing_ \- it felt like a half-mask - or maybe a muzzle.

He felt rage rise up inside his chest, and he growled in fury at the two figures who still stood before him. When he did, he felt the metal mask hum and shudder on his skin, almost painfully, but he didn't care. He didn't care what they did to him.

But the thought of that - that _thing_ imitating him - and hurting those he cared about - that thought made Shiro's heart almost stop beating. He tried to snarl down at the witch again, but then the metal mask hummed and shuddered a second time, and - and it did something to his voice. Shiro felt all sound die inside his throat, like something had reached out and stopped his voice entirely.

At least the thing couldn't really imitate Shiro's voice - it had been close, but maybe the difference was just enough where his team could still tell that it wasn't _him_ , that it wasn't _Shiro_.

But then the thing wearing his face turned back towards the witch, narrowed its eyebrows in concentration, and spoke.

" _How's…_ this?" it asked, and Shiro felt sweat break out on his forehead again.

His voice. The thing was perfectly imitating his voice now.

 _How_ had it been able to do that-

The device buckled around his face hadn't stopped humming, and it now it was emitting an almost inaudible tone. Shiro suddenly realized that the same device that kept him from speaking also enabled the - the thing to imitate his vocal patterns perfectly. He swallowed, feeling terror and panic curdle in his stomach.

In every way that mattered, Haggar had just stolen his voice.

The witch smiled back into the yellow eyes that were as cold and heartless as her own.

 _Perfect_ , she said. _You may begin._

With a last smirk over at Shiro, the thing went into the room where Keith was held prisoner.

Shiro felt panic well up inside his chest again, and with it, a horrible sensation of hopelessness and despair. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't do _anything_ to keep this thing from hurting his team.

All he could do was watch.


	3. Broken Trust

"Shiro?" Keith asked, confused. He'd woken up just a few seconds ago to find himself in a cell, and although he'd been trying to get free from the restraints that held his ankles and wrists to the wall, he hadn't had any luck.

But then he heard the door open, saw his friend framed in the doorway, and Keith immediately felt relief flood through him as Shiro quickly shut the door behind him.

"Shiro!" he said again, the relief showing in his voice as he jerked his head towards his right wrist. "Shiro - _awesome_ \- you got free - come on, help me get loose -"

But Shiro wasn't doing anything. He was just leaning against the door, arms folded across his chest, watching Keith.

"Uh - Shiro?" Keith asked, confused. "Is…is something wrong?"

He looked back at his restraints again, trying to see if there was a sensor or an alarm, something he might trip if they undid them too quickly. There didn't _seem_ to be anything like that, but then again, this was only Keith's second time in a Galra cell, so maybe -

"I'm not here to help you," Shiro said. Keith whipped his head back to stare in shock at him then, and realized that Shiro wore the dark black uniform of a Galra officer.

"What?…what the hell are you…" Keith began, confusion and incredulity on his face, but then Shiro's voice cut over his.

"You failed me, Keith," he said, his voice hard and cold as ice. "You left me behind to die."

Keith's head rocked backwards as if the words had struck him across the face. When he spoke again, it was a weak sound, almost inaudible.

" _What_ …?"

Shiro went on, talking over Keith's confusion, his pain and disbelief.

"You _betrayed_ me, Keith. The Galra took me, and it was your fault. You could have stopped them."

Keith's mouth had dropped open, but now he closed it, his face contorted into a mask of pain. He shook his head from side to side, stammering as he answered, bewildered confusion in his voice.

"I don't - I d-don't understand - Shiro, you told me - you _told_ me to take the team and run - I - I - didn't want to leave you behin-"

Shiro slammed his cybernetic fist into the wall by Keith's left ear. The Red Paladin flinched in fear as he stared into his friend's face. Yellow eyes glared back at him, burning with anger, and contempt, and - and hate.

Shiro _hated_ him _._

That thought alone almost destroyed Keith in that moment, but then Shiro was saying something else, and Keith forced himself to listen, forced himself to take in another breath, even though his chest suddenly hurt as if someone had physically knocked the breath out of him.

"Of _course_ you didn't want to leave me behind," Shiro said, his voice dripping sarcasm. "You would _never_ leave someone behind - not unless it meant you became the leader as a result."

Keith felt the words stab him in the heart. They hurt worse than a knife would have. Tears formed in his eyes, and his voice was quavering when he said, "No-no - Sh- Shiro - I - I - I don't- I _never_ \- I _never_ wanted t-"

His eyes met the yellow glare again, and suddenly Keith felt something faint flicker inside his chest - a hope that maybe - maybe this was something like the toxin - that maybe his friend -

"Shiro-" he asked, and his voice was still shaky, but at least he was able to get the words out. "Sh-Shiro - did they - did they do - s-something to y-"

Shiro - or the thing pretending to be Shiro - gave a harsh snarl and gripped Keith by the hair with its left hand, slamming the back of Keith's head back against the wall forcefully to emphasize its answer.

" _ **No**_ _!_ "

Keith flinched again, this time in both pain and fear, but then the thing had pulled his hair again, wrenched his face up so they were eye to eye.

The thing continued speaking, glaring right into Keith's face, its teeth bared and its eyes afire with contemptuous disdain.

" _No_ , Keith. I just finally realized that in a war, it's best to pick the _winning_ side."

Keith never thought he could feel this scared. The Druids had done something to his friend, he was certain of it now.

Shiro would never do something like this. _Never_. No matter how angry he was, no matter how furious or hurt, he would never, _ever_ do something like this.

This form, this face, it _had_ to be a trick.

But Keith didn't know what to do, or what to say. So he just stared into the thing's face, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks, feeling sick with disbelief and growing horror.

His friend - his friend wasn't standing in front of him.

Oh, the form, the voice, it all looked and sounded like him.

But Keith knew Shiro. He _knew_ him.

And there was no way Shiro would ever believe those things he'd just said, no way he would ever accuse Keith of treachery, no way in _hell_ that he would ever hurt Keith like this.

This had to be some kind of test. Someone must be watching.

This kind of mind-meddling was right up Haggar's alley. At the thought of the witch, Keith felt sudden, cold, paralytic fear course through him.

 _What had she done to Shiro? Could she have actually - could she actually have succeeded in -_

The thing saw Keith's pain and fear, and it smiled, stepping back from him, releasing its grip on his hair.

"Let me show you which side I chose," it said as it raised its cybernetic arm up by its face, its fingers flexing and curling as easily as if they were flesh and bone once more.

The arm was - Galran. Completely, utterly Galran. All traces of the Altean blue that Hunk and Pidge had crafted were gone, and now there were serrated edges on the fingers and on the elbow. It was a weapon made for destruction, and for drawing blood.

Keith tried to keep the fear from his eyes, but it was a useless effort. This wasn't Shiro standing in front of him.

This was the witch's Champion. The one she had tried to turn Shiro into before he'd escaped to Earth.

 _Had she finally succeeded?_

"Think about which side you want to pick," the thing said. The eyes were harsh and completely merciless, now empty of anything except contempt. "I strongly advise going with the side that's certain to win."

With that, it turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind it, leaving Keith alone.

Keith just stared after it for a minute, not knowing what to think or feel.

He closed his eyes, trying to order his thoughts, but it was difficult to think clearly. Pain, and loss, and a terrible, terrible fear washed over him, threatening to drown him.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what the witch had done to his friend, or if this was some kind of trick, or if his friend was even still alive.

Or if there was any way to know for certain that…that the thing that had just spoken to him…hadn't been whatever remained of Shiro.

Keith bit his lip and tried to tell himself again that it hadn't been, it just _couldn't_ have been his friend - but he'd been shaken to his core.

He'd just been called a traitor by his best friend - or something that sounded exactly like him. Keith couldn't keep the tears from forming in his eyes, even as he tried to convince himself it had just been one of Haggar's hellish tricks.

If it had been a trick devised by Haggar - and Keith told himself it **had** to have been - it had been a cruelly effective one.

Some of what the thing had said had been true. It was only a half-truth, a twisted truth, but Keith _had_ left Shiro behind, and Shiro had been taken by the Galra.

And if Shiro was gone - if that empty, cold, hateful thing that spoke with his voice was all that remained - Keith would never forgive himself.

Keith felt his hands begin to quiver, and he tightened them into fists. But then he felt a sob rise in his chest, and he didn't bother to hide it, or the tears that slid from his eyes again.

There was nothing Haggar could to do to hurt him anymore.

He had failed Shiro. He had failed his best friend. That pain was worse than anything the witch could have done to him.


	4. Pathetic Weakness

Haggar smiled as she saw the Red Paladin - the one with the fiercest loyalty towards his leader - shatter under the force of her Dark Champion's words.

Lord Zarkon had told her to break the Paladins' spirits before she killed them. If she had had more time, she would have been able to break them in any number of ways. But, time was short, and so she had decided upon this effective method.

Break the trust between Paladins, and you broke the bond between the Lions. Lord Zarkon had known this to be true from personal experience, and he wanted Voltron to be his, and his alone.

True, this Black Paladin had not - in the end - gone over to the Galra Empire. But with her spell - her illusion - the rest of the team would believe he had. In a short period of time, their spirits would be broken, and her goal accomplished.

The witch smiled to herself. Trust was such a strange thing. It took time, sometimes _years_ , to build, to encourage, and to cultivate, but it could be be undone in moments with very few words. And when those words came from a person one trusted, from a person one cared for - well, that was simply _delicious_ to witness.

And perhaps seeing those he cared for broken and betrayed by his words would finally break Champion himself.

Such a pathetic weakness, to care for others.

She turned her attention back to the Black Paladin. At first, she thought he would have refused to watch as her Dark Champion broke the Red Paladins's trust in him.

But he'd watched. He'd watched and listened to it all.

Even as she turned her attention to him, she heard him let out a shaky breath, and something wet glinted and reflected in his eyes - the beginnings of tears.

Weakness. _Unforgivable_ weakness.

To think she had given him the name Champion.

She had been a fool to think he could ever be truly strong.

She turned her attention back to her Dark Champion as he proceeded to speak to each Paladin.

It all went the same way. First the Paladins were happy to see their friend, thought he had come to rescue them. Confusion, denial, and fear followed soon after as he spoke, destroying those hopes, shattering their spirits. But it always ended the same way.

Broken trust. Broken faith.

She watched as the Blue Paladin refused to believe that the figure before him was really his friend. He denied it several times, but in the end, he seemed to believe that the Shiro he knew had been eradicated, that only this cold, hate-filled Galra solider was left. The Blue Paladin's head drooped forward, and the witch could see his shoulders begin to shake with sobs even as her Dark Champion left the room.

She watched as the Yellow Paladin recoiled in fear from the Galran arm, his face white and terrified, even as he tried to deny that Shiro would ever go over to the Galra Empire, or ask any of them to do the same.

She watched as the Green Paladin's fighting spirit left her when her former leader told her that her family was lost to her forever, that they had died within the first few months of captivity.

"I lied to you, Katie," he said, his face as still as stone, and just as cold. "I told you we'd find them just to keep you from asking me questions. Give up your search. It's pointless."

Her scream of denial and anger died away into furious sobbing and cursing as the Dark Champion left the cell.

The witch smiled then, a satisfied and content expression on her face.

Just more proof that caring for others was an unforgivable weakness.

Better to be cold, and distant, and completely untouchable than to leave such an obvious weak point open to attack.

She looked back over at the Black Paladin, and saw that he was crying. Silent tears were sliding down the mask, and a few had dripped onto the floor.

He must have been crying ever since the Red Paladin had lost faith in him.

He was _revoltingly_ weak.

Snarling in disgust, Haggar took a few steps forward and raked her claws across his face. Her claws shrieked against the metal mask as they deflected off of the gleaming surface, but she'd still managed to draw some blood.

It was the place of the weak to bleed, to crumble, to _break_.

Her blow caused the Black Paladin's head to snap to one side, and he closed his eyelids out of an instinct to protect his sight. His shoulders tightened, and he kept his face turned away from her, as if expecting her to try for his eyes again.

Haggar snorted in contempt at the stupidity of the action. She'd avoided his eyes on purpose. What was the point of making him _watch_ his team break if he couldn't _see_?

Still, when all this was over, maybe she _would_ take his eyes…or perhaps his tongue. It all depended on her mood.

Her claws had reopened part of the old scar across his nose, and blood began to trickle down the metal mask, the drops turning into tiny red stars as they hit the floor.

 _You are_ _ **weak**_ _,_ she snarled at him, in rage and frustration. _You are_ _ **pathetic**_ _. You are_ _ **nothing.**_

At her words, he opened his eyes and lifted his head to glare at her, and his eyes were _fire_.

His spirit was strong.

 _So why wasn't he?_

He could have been their greatest weapon.

Sudden rage consumed Haggar, and she grabbed hold of Shiro's hair and chin, forcing him to look at where her Dark Champion stood before the Royal Advisor, telling him that Voltron now belonged to Zarkon.

 _ **Why can't you see it?!**_ _**Why can't you see your weakness?!**_ She snarled into his ear, feeling spittle fly from the corner of her mouth. She was still shaking in enraged frustration, and her claws dug cruelly into his scalp, into his flesh. She saw his blood stain her clawtips, felt the wetness of it as beads of blood welled up and ran down the Black Paladin's skin.

He hissed soundlessly then, a short, brief sound of distress, and she tightened her grip viciously, enjoying the knowledge that he felt pain.

He was weak. His only right was pain.

 _You disgust me,_ she said, hissing once more into his ear. _You, and all your pathetic friends._

She released his hair and pushed his head away from her roughly, stepping away from him as her Dark Champion approached.

"It's working," her Dark Champion confirmed. "None of them suspect a thing." Haggar nodded, regaining some of her previous good mood.

Then she saw that the Black Paladin had turned his gaze to the final room, where the Princess still waited, and Haggar knew then, _knew_ how she could break the Black Paladin, break him so throughly that death would be a kindness in comparison.

She beckoned to her Dark Champion, and he came to her side.

"Yes, my mistress?" he asked, and Haggar saw how Shiro shuddered at the sound of his own voice coming from the cruel mouth.

 _A change of plans._ Haggar said. _I'm sure Lord Zarkon will not mind._

She reached down and, smiling coldly into Shiro's face, she removed the metal device that had stifled his voice. Shiro coughed a few times, shook his head, and looked back up into her eyes, and the fear in his face was marvelous.

 _I am going to kill the Princess_ , she said.


	5. Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair

Oh, Haggar truly smiled at the Black Paladin's reaction then.

"NO!" Shiro screamed, and his voice, fully restored to him, echoed around the room. " **NO**!" He tried to break free, the muscles in his neck taunt, his teeth bared, his eyes wild.

 _But_ , she said, _Bring her out here first. I want her to know what I have planned for her favorite Paladin._

Shiro spat something then, something furious and almost black with hatred, and Haggar turned to him once more as her Dark Champion went to go and bring the Princess out of her cell.

 _You would have made a_ _ **marvelous**_ _Champion_ , she said, _but you care too much for others. And I **will** break you before you die._

Then the thing had dragged Allura out of her cell by one arm, nearer towards Haggar and Shiro.

Allura looked confused and scared. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were darting between the figure holding her arm and Haggar.

"Shiro," she was saying, "where are you - what are you doing - Shiro, stop it, you're hurting me -"

"Allura, listen," Shiro shouted to her, his eyes frantic, his face pale, " _That's not me_! Get out of here - now - _run_!"

Haggar saw Allura's eyes finally fall on Shiro, and she smiled at how suddenly the Princess' face changed from confusion to both fear and anger.

"How _dare_ you," she hissed at Haggar, trying to break free from the Dark Champion's grip, perhaps trying to make her way to the real Shiro's side. "How _dare_ you use witchcraft in this way - you're a _monster-_ "

But then the witch's Dark Champion had gripped Allura by her throat, and she broke off, grasping its cybernetic hand with both of hers, trying to wrench free of the chokehold even as she felt her feet leave the ground. She tried to shapeshift then, like she'd tried with Sendak, but the thing just laughed and held her higher.

"Nice try," the thing sneered, the voice still uncannily similar to Shiro's. "But that won't work on me."

Shiro was screaming, then, screaming at the witch, at the thing that was slowly killing her, but Allura was trying to breathe, and she couldn't make out the words. But she could still see.

She saw Haggar drawing a knife from her belt, and suddenly it was at Shiro's throat, the sharp edge pressed painfully hard up under his chin, drawing blood, cutting off his words.

All Shiro could do was look at her then, and his face looked ten years older, it was so desperate, and pale, and scared - she didn't want to die, she didn't want Shiro to watch her die, this was not what was supposed to happen, it _wasn't_ , it wasn't _ever_ supposed to be this way-

But then the witch was calling to the other Druids, a note of amusement in her voice, and then there was noise and movement happening in the room around her.

For a few moments, Allura didn't understand what was happening.

But then she heard familiar voices call her name, and the grip on her throat tightened. It was even harder to breathe. But she did her best.

She didn't really have a choice in the matter.


	6. Illusion and Truth

When Keith heard Shiro scream in fear and rage, his head snapped up immediately, his eyes focusing on the door.

The sound was desperate, terrified, and it had been from Shiro. His friend was in trouble.

Keith snarled and immediately resumed his efforts to get free, pulling against the restraints, trying without success to get enough purchase on the ground to get more force behind his efforts.

Shiro might have said those things to him, but there was a strong probability of Druid magic and mind-altering weirdness playing into the situation. And Keith just refused - he just flat out _refused_ \- to stand by when Shiro was screaming in pain.

Keith narrowed his eyes and ground his teeth in frustration. He just couldn't get free - damnit, these things were so damn _tight_ \- but then somehow, the restraints loosened, ever so slightly. Keith didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but before he could completely free one of his limbs, a Druid was coming into his cell, and then Keith was enveloped in some kind of black lightening that froze every muscle in his body. He tried to scream, or at least to curse at the Druid, but it was hard to breathe, and after a few seconds, everything just faded away.

He must have blacked out for only a few moments, because when he came back to his senses, he'd been taken out of his cell and into a bigger, darker room. He felt someone pushing him onto his knees. He looked around and saw that the Druid who had taken him out of his cell was now behind him. Keith snarled something and tried to punch out at the Druid, or at least to kick him, but his wrists were secured behind his back, and his ankles were bound together as well.

Okay. So kicking the Druid's leg out from under him was out of the question, as was putting the Druid into a chokehold.

Damn.

Those had really been the only two moves he had thought he might be able to pull off right now.

But then Keith saw what else was happening in the room, and all thoughts of attacking the Druid behind him flew right out of his mind.

He was kneeling by the other Paladins and Coran, in a kind of semi-circle. The other three Druids were all standing behind Hunk, Lance, and Pidge. Two drones stood behind Coran. Each of his friends were secured just like Keith was, but Allura -

Keith felt his heart skip several beats in terror. Allura was being held up in the air in front of him, in a one-handed chokehold - by Shiro - the Shiro with the yellow eyes and the bladed Galra arm that had spoken to him earlier. The cybernetic claws were clutched around Allura's neck - oh, _shit_ -

"ALLURA!" Keith shouted. He tried to get to his feet, but the Druid behind him hit him with another spasm of black lightening - but this time it felt less like a paralysis beam and more like an electrical taser. A really - powerful - _painful_ one.

He heard himself scream, and then he was on the ground, still watching his best friend slowly killing the Princess. Pidge was screaming for Shiro to stop, Lance had just gotten tasered too for trying to break free from his guard so he could go help Allura, and Hunk and Coran were both trying to trying to wrest free so they could save Allura from Shiro.

 _No,_ Keith thought. _Shiro would never do this. Never. He would_ _ **never**_ _kill Allura. It's a trick, it's got to be -_

Keith saw something then, off to one side, and it made his skin prickle on the back of his scalp. It was Haggar, and she was - she was standing by some kind of Druid machine. It looked like a - a really bulky metal coffin. And -

Keith felt himself gasp in surprise - someone that looked like Shiro was being held in there. He looked like he'd been through hell. There was blood on his face, and Haggar held a knife that was digging into his throat, right under the chin - but that meant -

 _I see you've figured it out,_ Haggar said. Keith looked up to see her looking down at him.

 _Congratulations, Red Paladin_ , she continued as he levered himself back to his knees with an effort, still trying to catch his breath, wanting to tell the others what he'd seen, but unable to just yet. _You're the first to see through our little disguise._

She dropped the knife she'd been holding onto the floor. Shiro - it _had_ to be the real Shiro, Keith knew that now - spat and snarled at the witch, even as she waved a hand, and the form of the yellow-eyed Shiro wavered and disappeared into black smoke that whirled and shimmered away into nothingness.

A regular Galra drone was standing in its place, its hand still locked around Allura's throat.

Haggar made another gesture, and the drone let the Princess of Altea drop to the ground, stepping away from Allura as she collapsed to the floor, coughing and gasping for air.

Haggar turned to the small group in front of her.

 _Fascinating_ , she purred. _None of you doubted that it was your leader._ _ **Imagine**_ _what we could have accomplished with more time._

Coran had stopped trying to get free for the moment. His attention was fixed on Haggar, and Hunk thought that their usually friendly, funny courtier looked downright terrifying in that instant. His eyes were narrowed, his teeth bared, and he looked nothing like his usual self.

"You're _sick_ ," he said, and his voice was a low, almost vicious growl of rage and anger. "You're _sick_ , Haggar."

 _Dear old Coran,_ Haggar said. _You always did have such a talent for stating the obvious._

"Where is he?!" Pidge demanded then, her voice still shaky, but Keith could tell she was pissed as hell. "Where's Shiro?!"

Haggar raised a hand and gestured towards Shiro, almost mockingly.

Shiro had been glaring at the witch, but he turned his gaze towards his team, feeling suddenly, horribly afraid.

What if they - what if they hated him now - what if -

"SHIRO!" Lance screamed, his eyes going wide, and it was a cry of recognition, relief, terror, and joy all mixed into one sound.

"Shiro!" Pidge gasped, and she looked like she wanted to cry again, her face pale, her voice frantic. "Shiro - are you okay -"

" **What** did you _**do**_ to him - " Keith snarled at at the witch, his eyes narrowed in that way they always did whenever he saw his best friend in trouble.

"I _knew_ it wasn't you, Shiro!" Hunk exclaimed, almost triumphantly. His eyes were welling up with tears. "I _knew_ you'd never say those things-or hurt Allura - "

Part of Shiro wished he could have seen the expression on Haggar's face at the Paladin's reactions, but he hadn't forgotten about her threat to kill the Princess.

He looked over towards where the drone had let her fall, and saw that Allura had finally caught her breath. She held one hand to her throat, as if trying to help herself breathe easier that way. She seemed unable to get to her feet just yet.

She heard him call her name, and then their eyes met.

They were only a few feet away from each other.

Allura could see blood on Shiro's face, and he looked scared. So scared.

She'd never seen him this frightened. It scared her worse than anything she could remember scaring her.

"Allura - " he said, his eyes desperate, almost frantic, "please - _please_ get out of here - I don't know what's going to happen, but-"

Suddenly Allura felt someone securing her arms behind her back, beginning to pull her away from him, and too late, she realized a drone was dragging her backwards, away from Shiro.

He looked after her, his eyes terrified, and she felt a sudden panic rise in her, a horrible certainty that something awful was about to happen. She tried to break free, to get back to him, but she'd already been forced to kneel beside Coran and the other Paladins.

Then the witch was coming to stand in front of Shiro once more, and she was smiling at them all.

That was never a good sign.


	7. Haggar's Plan

Shiro felt his heart begin to pound even faster inside his chest as the witch turned her eyes to him.

Why had she shown the team that he hadn't gone over the Galra Empire?

Why had she brought them out here and shown them it had all been just a game to her?

Why had she let his team realize that the Dark Champion hadn't been him?

 _Because she has something else in mind,_ his fears told him. _Something better._ _She has something that she wanted them all to see first-hand._

But what could that possibly be -

 _Champion,_ Haggar said, _did you never wonder how you came to face Myzax again?_

For a second, Shiro was completely confused. Myzax - what? What was she talking about?

Then he remembered. The giant monster they'd defeated on Arus.

"N-no - I - d-didn't," he said, and he was glad his voice didn't shake too badly. He wasn't going to be able to keep control of his fear for much longer, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try.

He saw that the team had remembered the fight with Myzax too. Each of them looked at each other in some confusion, and some in fear as well. With that realization, he remembered what he had to do.

He had to - he had to help his team. Even if all he could do was defy the witch with his words.

Okay. He could do that.

"We - we were - we were too busy - defending - the universe," he said then, deciding that he literally had nothing left to lose by making this jibe at the witch's expense.

He saw Lance's eyes widen and his mouth drop open in half-astonished delight at the comeback, but then the witch smiled a half-smile at Shiro, and although he had seen it over a thousand times, it still was a truly chilling thing to witness.

She gestured to the machine that he assumed was in the shadows behind him, and said, quite calmly and simply, _We infused his quintessence into a weapon of our own making._ _And now, it seems fitting that we do the same to you._

Shiro's blood ran cold. He felt suddenly, horribly sick. He clenched his teeth together, and he felt his entire body start to tremble.

There were cries of protest from the other Paladins, but the witch's voice drowned them all out.

 _You_ _ **shall**_ _be our weapon, Champion. It is your fate. Your destiny. Nothing you do can prevent it._

Something inside Shiro's mind shut down, refused to comprehend the horrible concept of what she was saying. He shook his head in denial at her words, taking in a deep breath, trying not to panic, trying to think of a way he could escape from becoming a monster-

"That's impossible!" Allura's voice rang through the room, over all other sounds, and she continued on through the sudden silence. "There's _nothing_ you can do to turn Shiro into a monster!"

Shiro looked over towards her, the tremors of fear subsiding for an instant, and he felt confidence radiating off the Princess of Altea. Confidence, and a very real contempt, all directed at Haggar.

The witch turned from Shiro then, looking straight into Allura's face. _Can't I?_ she asked, very quietly. _How can you be so certain?_

Allura returned Haggar's look, her eyes stubborn and her chin set. "I know you can't," she replied, " - because if you _could_ have turned him into a monster - a _real_ monster - you wouldn't have needed to resort to a mirage spell, now, would you?"

For a few moments, yellow eyes and blue glared daggers at each other.

"You've never been able to break him," Allura said. "- and you never will." Beside her, the other Paladins and Coran were nodding defiantly in agreement.

Shiro saw Haggar's mouth twist into a snarl.

This had be really, _really_ frustrating for the witch.

She hadn't broken his team at all.

But Haggar laughed then, and it sounded like broken glass. Shiro flinched at the sound, dozens, hundreds of half-forgotten memories screaming into his mind, and he swallowed again, feeling the fear envelop him again as the witch spoke.

 _He bears_ _ **my**_ _brand. He wields the power_ _ **I**_ _gave him. Champion will_ _ **never**_ _escape me._

The words struck home, though Shiro tried not to let them. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth at Haggar, but Allura was already answering the witch.

"He doesn't have to," Allura said. Her eyes were narrowed at the witch now, her teeth bared. "Because he's not yours, and never has been. Not in the ways that matter."

With another contemptuous laugh, Haggar turned back towards Shiro, and her teeth were bared in a mocking half smile.

 _Well, Princess,_ the witch said, very business-like and brutal, _Let's see what you think after the transference. From my experience, I'd say it's likely that he'll kill you all._

She raised both her hands then, palms out, towards Shiro and the giant form in the shadows behind him.

Then there was a flash of light, a light so blinding, it wiped the entire room away from Allura's vision for an instant.

Then the room was thrown into bright, awful contrasts of red and black as shadows and light spilled from the device that held Shiro, and he was screaming. His screams were awful, barely human, a living embodiment of pain itself.

Allura screamed too then, a cry of fear and panic, and beside her, she heard the others cry out as well.

Shiro was in agony, and there was nothing she or any of the others could do to help.


	8. Black Paladin

**Author's note: '** **Tasukete' is Japanese. It means 'please help me'. I don't speak the language, but I did my best to get it right within this context.**

As Allura spoke out against Haggar, and as she continued to do so, Shiro felt a sudden hope rise in his chest, and he took in a deep breath, trying to order his thoughts.

Allura had believed in him. The others had too.

His team still trusted him. They _trusted_ him.

Haggar had been unable to break them.

Earlier - had it only been a few hours? It felt like days ago - Zarkon had told Shiro he'd broken Shiro's bond with Black, that he'd severed their connection completely.

But what if he'd been lying? What if he'd been trying to make _Shiro_ break the connection by giving up on Black through despair or hopelessness?

Shiro had tried to call out to Black earlier, when he was in his cell, but he hadn't heard anything. He'd tried over and over, but there had only been an empty, silent space in his mind. Zarkon must have blocked his attempts. Even now, he might prevent Black from hearing Shiro.

But there was no harm in trying one last time. Even as Haggar turned towards him, her palms outstretched, Shiro called out to his Lion in his mind.

He could do this. _He could do this_.

 _ **Black - Black! Are you there?**_

Then red light blinded him, and he felt panic and fear clutch at his mind, his heart, his soul. He called to Black again, desperately, knowing he was out of time.

 _ **Black - please - I need you!**_

The the pain of the quintessence transference began, and it - it felt as if every cell in his body began to shiver and shake apart, and he was terrified, he was _terrified_ at the thought of becoming a monster, and then he felt the metal around him begin to heat up, to glisten, to shimmer in agonizing ripples of energy, energy that was being pulled out of him - and it hurt. It hurt beyond anything he could have imagined.

Shiro heard himself screaming at the top of his lungs, but he could hear something else, too. Familiar voices were shouting his name. He tried to open his eyes, managed it just for an instant, and saw his team. They were trying to get to him, but their guards held them in place.

He had to help them - he _had_ to -

 _ **Black**_ **!**

There was just an instant's hesitation in the witch's spell then - perhaps the witch had finally realized he was calling out to his Lion -

Something that felt like malicious electricity suddenly coursed through his body, and he felt his muscles spasm, heard himself scream - again - and again - and again - awful, choking sounds that were almost physically torn out of him -

In terror, pain, and desperate fear, Shiro screamed to his Lion for the final time.

 _ **BLACK**_ **!**

Then it felt as if a thousand needles were piercing his eyes, all of them red-hot and sharp. Every nerve ending in his body felt as if it was on fire. His blood pulsed hot and corroding, almost like acid in his veins.

Shiro couldn't do anything but scream then, horrible, agonized sounds that didn't sound remotely human. There was nothing else in his world except pain, and he thought his mind would shatter from knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it.

A sudden roar sounded inside his mind, and it was so loud, Shiro thought it would break through everything in its path. An answer so clear and cool, it seemed to cut right through the fire he felt on his skin. He felt a familiar presence leap into the silent, dark shadows of his mind, and then Black's voice screamed out in recognition.

 _ **MY PILOT!**_

She'd heard him. She was coming.

Shiro felt something that might have been a small laugh bubble up from his chest, but then he was coughing, and he tasted blood - no, that wasn't exactly right - he was - he was coughing up blood. He was struggling to breathe, and everything _hurt_ -

 _I am coming, my pilot - I am coming -_

"…B _-_ Bl-Black…" He gritted the word out between clenched teeth and felt blood trickle down the sides of his mouth. He wished he could open his eyes, even just for a _second_ \- but the pain was-

Black called to him again, her voice frantic, terrified, pleading.

 _I am coming - I am coming - hold on - please -_ _ **please**_ _\- hold on -_

The pain was just too much…he couldn't hold on anymore…

Somewhere nearby, Allura was crying, and at the sound, Shiro felt a tear trickle down his own face.

He didn't want to leave her.

He didn't want to go.

"… _tasukete_ …"

He only realized he'd said the word out loud when he tasted the blood on his lips, and even as he said it, he felt everything dear to him begin to recede into silence.

The darkness reached out to claim him.

Black screamed to him then, a terrible, desperate cry, a wail of anguish and entreaty.

 _I am near - don't give up - please -_ _ **please,**_ _**Takashi, wait for me!**_

It was if a shooting star had just crossed a pitch black sky, blazing a trail of light behind it, banishing the darkness for just an instant.

But an instant was enough.

Black had used his name.

 _Black_ had used his _name_.

At that realization, Shiro found he had the strength to hold on. So he did. He held on for another heartbeat, then two, then three.

As the darkness suddenly withdrew, there was a triumphant roar from Black inside Shiro's mind, strong and reassuring and _alive_.

 _ **I am here - Takashi - I am HERE!**_

Then there was a light - a sudden, brilliant, blinding light all around him, and Shiro thought for an instant that he was dead.

But he wasn't.

He'd been close.

But he wasn't dead just yet.

Black had crashed into the room, and her roaring was so loud, it even penetrated the silence Shiro had felt clutching at him. Something huge and metallic seemed to fall over behind him - Black had apparently kicked or torn down the giant object in the far shadows of the room - and there there was a sound of ripping, of tearing, of wires hissing and shattering and being shredded into fragments.

With intense concentration, Shiro remembered how to open an eye. With even more effort, he did so. He looked up just in time to see a shadow pass over him, and then Black's strong, lean form was standing directly in front of him, as if protecting a cub, and she was snarling more fiercely than any mother lion ever had.

It took Shiro a second to realize she had destroyed the machine that had been killing him by severing the lines that led to the giant figure in the shadows, effectively ending the draining of his life force. And now, Black was between him and the witch.

Shiro felt immense satisfaction well up in his heart at the witch's expression. Haggar had frozen into place, her eyes wide in terror and disbelief.

The room had gone completely silent then, as if…

Well.

As if a giant Lion had just come in through the wall and destroyed a life-sucking machine that had almost killed her Paladin.

The Black Lion's bond with Zarkon was broken, completely and utterly broken. Black had come to save her true Paladin, and Haggar felt sudden, draining terror root her to the spot for a few seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity.

Haggar saw the Black Paladin grin at her then, an expression that showed no fear, no dread, no pain - only confidence and an almost fierce delight. Blood flecked his lips when he spoke, and his voice was barely audible, but he spat out a command to his Lion that echoed throughout the entire room.

 _" **Sic 'em."**_

Black roared as she pounced. The witch screamed and disappeared into a black mist just as the Lion's enormous claws encompassed the space where she had been standing. Black roared in furious, enraged disappointment and turned towards the Druids that still stood, frozen, behind the rest of his team.

With simultaneous puffs of black mist, they vanished. Black used a single paw to bat aside the remaining Galra sentries, and then she had nudged the other members of the team towards Shiro with her nose.

Keith twisted as he was moved across the floor, grabbed hold of the knife the witch had dropped, and in record time, he managed to get his hands and ankles free. Then he cut Coran's hands loose, and as Coran started to free the others, Keith ran to the machine where Shiro was still trapped.

"Shiro!" Keith shouted, grabbing hold of his friend's face and making him look him in the eye. "Shiro! Shiro _-_ can you hear me?! Come on, say something! _Shiro_!"

Shiro hadn't realized his eyes had slid shut again. He blinked his eyes open and felt vaguely confused, and it took him a few seconds to remember which question his friend had asked him. He saw Keith's lip was trembling, and his eyes were scared, almost frantic with worry.

"Yeah - Keith - 'm fine," Shiro said, wishing he could manage something above a whisper, but his voice cracked on the last word, and he had to spit blood to the side. Keith stepped back, looking even more concerned.

"We're gonna get you out of this," Keith told him, "-just - just give me a second-" He'd already began to run his hands over the different locks and bolts, his face set in concentration.

Even as he did, Pidge came over to join him, and together, they tackled the various controls and, after what seemed forever to Lance but what was probably only about a minute, they were able to free Shiro from the freaky death-machine.

True, Shiro didn't so much step from it as immediately crumple to the floor, but Allura was there to catch him. She caught him by the shoulders and eased him to the ground, resting his head in her lap.

"Uh, guys," Hunk was saying nervously, "shouldn't we get - " but Black had already opened her mouth and was using a focused tractor beam to help them all get in faster. Also, it spared Shiro from needing to be moved or carried - which was good, given the likely internal bleeding he was suffering from at the moment.

It felt a bit odd to Coran, to feel himself floating weightlessly into the Lion's passenger section, but it must have felt absolutely alien to the Paladins, who clearly had very limited experience with zero gravity.

Coran used various knobs and levers as handholds to reach the emergency first aid kit, making sure to gather all the materials he needed to treat Shiro once they regained the use of gravity. Black had stopped the quintessence draining process just before it had been too late, but her Paladin would need immediate medical attention all the same.

Even as Black's jaw closed shut, Galra soldiers ran into the room, firing small plasma cannons at Black. She made a snarling sound, turned, and with a dismissive flick of her tail, she bowled them all over like so many nine-pins.

Then she was flying, soaring out of the ship, back into the sky, straight out of the system, taking her pilot somewhere where he could heal, where the team could recuperate, somewhere they could hide from Zarkon until they were able to face him, and his subordinates, in battle.

From the deck of his ship, Zarkon watched her go, his face impassive, cold and still.

He had thought his bond with the Black Lion would last forever.

He had thought the Druid's magic and his own indomitable will had been enough to make Black forget her weak, pitiful pilot.

He had thought the fledging Paladins of Voltron would shatter and crumble once their leader broke their spirits.

But apparently, he had been mistaken.

Still, at least one thing was certain now.

He and the Black Paladin would meet one day in battle, and only one of them would walk away.

 _Victory or death._

It seemed that Champion held to the same code, though not in so many words.

And anyway, Zarkon thought that it was only fair to say that Champion and he had very different ideas of 'victory.'

But Champion was weak, and he would fall.

Zarkon knew it was only a matter of time.


	9. No Power in the 'Verse

Shiro heard someone - Allura - say his name. Her voice was soft and gentle, but fear hid behind it. He didn't want her to be scared. He was going to be fine, really, he was. Sure, he still felt tired - more then he ever had in his life - but at least he could breathe again, and it was a lot easier than it had been a few minutes ago. Shiro felt he should let her know that she shouldn't worry about him.

He focused all his efforts on thinking about opening his eyes and looking at Allura. It was hard to do - all he really wanted to do was sleep - but he concentrated really, _really_ hard, and finally managed it.

When Allura saw Shiro's eyes slit open, she held back what she wanted to say. She wanted to say, "-Oh stars I thought you might be dead please say you're all right and there's nothing to worry about and I _love_ you-" but she didn't.

Instead, she kissed his forehead and smiled encouragingly down into his face. She held him in her arms, and the other Paladins and Coran all clustered close around them, completely disregarding the rest of the rather spacious passenger section.

Hunk was holding onto both Lance's arm and Coran's shoulder, and Pidge had hold of Keith's shoulder, and Keith's hands were fisted tight at his sides, but when Shiro's eyes opened, everyone sagged a little with relief.

"Hey," Shiro said. His voice was hoarse, but he could at least talk. He looked around at all their faces, and for an instant, he felt confused. "Wh-"

"It's okay, Shiro," Coran said, patting Shiro's knee encouragingly. "We've stabilized you for now, and we're heading back to Rayzor's planet. It's defensive shields will be just the thing to keep us nice and safe while we all recover. I've already hailed Rayzor on the comms - we'll be meeting up with him shortly."

Shiro blinked again, looked down, and saw that at some point, someone had strapped a device over his his chest. It looked like the Spiderman logo, but it was glowing - oh, so _that_ was the thing was keeping him alive. Given from the shape he'd been in earlier, it was probably keeping his insides from liquefying…yeah, probably a good idea to just let that stay where it was.

He glanced over at Keith, who reached over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's okay, Shiro," Keith said. "We're all okay. You're going to be fine-"

Shiro nodded again, and his eyes started to close again. Keith and Allura exchanged scared looks. They couldn't let him sleep until he'd received more thorough medical care.

Allura leaned over and kissed Shiro's forehead again. Somehow he'd gotten cuts there, so she made sure she only kissed where the skin wasn't broken. Some of the blood around the cuts stained her lips and cheek, but she didn't mind.

"Shiro," she said, and she made sure to keep her voice calm and gentle. "Shiro, can you keep your eyes open for me?"

At her words, Shiro opened his eyes again and looked up at her. A look of concern crossed his face.

" …'llura?…" he asked, and she looked down at him again, feeling her cheeks heat up. His eyes were deep and grey. So very grey…and so very, very deep…

"Yes, Shiro?" she asked, and she blinked in sudden surprise when he raised his left hand and touched the side of her face, very gently.

" -'re…bleeding…" he said, his voice worried, and she bit her lip as tears sprung to her eyes.

He thought the blood was hers.

"I'm all right," she said, feeling a tear track down her face. "I'm absolutely all right. It's nothing serious."

Shiro's eyes suddenly cleared a little, and he looked at her, then at the others, and he was saying something that Allura didn't completely understand at first.

" 'M sorry," he was saying, and he sounded like he wanted to cry. "It wasn't - me, it - it - wasn't - I didn't - 'm sorry - "

He broke off, starting to cough, and Keith knew he had to reassure his friend, so he squeezed Shiro's shoulder gently, reassuringly. "We knew," he said, and he tried hard not to let the sudden lump in his throat stop his words. "We knew - it - it wasn't you - right, guys?"

He glanced over at the others as he said it, and his dark purple eyes were vulnerable. _Help me_ , they said. _Please._

But Lance had already put an encouraging hand on Shiro's knee, and Pidge had placed hers on Shiro's ankle, and even Hunk had even grabbed hold of Shiro's cybernetic hand in both of his, his big hands almost making the metal fingers and joints completely disappear.

"Of _course_ I knew it wasn't you," Hunk said. "There's _no_ way you'd ever tell us to surrender to the Galra-"

"Or tell me to give up looking for my family," Pidge said. "Ha, that stupid witch, trying to make us believe that drone was you - that's just complete bulls-"

"-It _so_ wasn't you," Lance interjected, "I totally called it, like, _ten_ times, man - her freaky magic was totally - "

Shiro felt someone grasp his other shoulder than, and he realized Coran was looking straight into his eyes.

"Never really believed it was you - not for a tick," Coran said, and his voice was steady, his eyes completely honest. "Shiro, you are a _great_ leader. It shows how desperate Zarkon and Haggar are that they attempted something so devious and underhanded. You should not apologize. You should feel no guilt."

He patted Shiro's shoulder once more before sitting back. "What you should do," Coran said, "is _relax_."

Shiro nodded, and he wanted to keep his eyes open, like Allura had asked him to - he did - but he was so _tired_.

He felt his eyes drift closed again, but then Allura hugged him closer, and when he opened his eyes, he felt something drip onto his chin.

She was - she was _crying_.

"…Hey…" he said, and he reached up to stroke her cheek again with his left hand. " 'S - okay - 'm just…tired…"

Allura sniffed and looked into his face then, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her cheeks wet with tears. Her face was very close to his now.

Her eyes were still the most beautiful blue he'd ever seen.

Suddenly, he knew - he _knew_ that he wanted to be at her side forever.

And life was just too damn short to waste any more time.

So, without really thinking twice about it, he leaned his head forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The kiss left some of his blood on her skin, and he suddenly felt embarrassed as her eyes grew wide and sudden color rushed into her face. For an instant, he thought that maybe he had gone too far.

But right after, when she leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth - gently, but with great enthusiasm all the same - he realized that if she was happy kissing him right in front of God and everyone, he was okay with it too.

It wasn't a very passionate kiss, or a long one, but it meant a lot. It meant the world.

 _ **Finally,**_ Shiro heard Black purr in his mind, and right after that, he and Allura broke apart.

Shiro felt a smile cross his face, and then the others were making noise. They kept it down, out of concern for his still-less-than-stellar condition, but Keith was saying " _About_ _ **damn**_ _time_ ," with a smirk on his face, and Lance was slapping a widely grinning Hunk on the back out of sheer excitement and happiness (because he couldn't do the same thing to Shiro in his present condition), and Pidge was rolling her eyes and saying, "Eeeww…. _gross_ …" with a huge grin on her face that showed she was actually really happy for them both, and Coran had almost leapt to his feet in delight, but since they were already pretty much squished together, he settled for gathering everyone within reach - which _was_ everyone - into a group hug that was gentle, but absolutely sincere.

"Oh," he said, wiping a tear from his eye, as the hug ended, "I'm so happy for you both, Princess."

Allura had been laughing a little at everyone's reactions, and she blushed at that, smiling over at Coran.

"Coran, I'm quite happy that we're all so pleased…but…um…should someone perhaps check the comms? I think I hear Rayzor hailing us on line one."

Hunk was the closest to the comms, but Pidge was the smallest and could get her legs under her the easiest. Some slight adjustments followed, and Pidge eventually managed to climb over Hunk with a minimal amount of discomfort for everyone - except Lance, who was elbowed 'accidentally' in the bread basket.

Shiro couldn't hold back a half-chuckle at Lance's indignant look at Pidge's back as he tried to get his breath back. Keith just smirked, reached over, and gave Pidge a high five as she turned to get to the comms.

"That - so wasn't - an 'accident'," Lance gasped, once he got his breath back. But he kept his tone low, and one of his usual grins spread across his face. He whispered to Hunk, in a conspiracy theory sort of voice, "I think she has it in for me because I'm just so cool."

"Well," Hunk said, nodding, replying in the same low whisper, "your Lion does have an ice ray. So yeah, you are actually pretty cool."

"She's just _jealous_ ," Lance declared, grinning hugely. He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Jealous of my ice ray."

Keith felt a smile creep across his face, and he rolled his eyes and grinned over at the Blue Paladin, unable to keep from joining in the fun.

"Who has a fire beam _and_ a giant laser gun? _Me_ ," he said, also keeping his voice low. "So technically, she'd be jealous of us _both_ , Lance - but she'd be _way_ more jealous of _me_."

Lance's head jolted up then, his eyes sparking at the challenge, and he and Keith proceeded to have a whispered half-earnest, half-jest conversation over _who_ Pidge was more jealous of and _why_ , while Hunk was talking to Coran about what kind of food they might be able to make in celebration for Shiro and Allura officially being a couple now, and Pidge was on the comms with Rayzor, summarizing the events to their ally in a slightly deadpan manner as Black took them to safety.

While all of that carried on in the background, Shiro and Allura just looked into each other's eyes and smiled at each other.

They'd made it out.

They were safe.

And they had each other.


	10. Epilogue (Card Games)

Rayzor's ship landed at the same time as Black did. A medical team was already waiting to take Shiro back to the medical bay.

"We've already prepped the healing pod," Aurelis told them as they made their way to the proper entrance to the tunnels.

Allura nodded, keeping pace with the med-techs who were carrying Shiro on a stretcher. She held his left hand in hers, both in an effort to help keep him awake and because she wanted to stay in contact with him for as long as possible.

"…maybe I should just…" Shiro said, and she turned to look at him, and saw he was smiling up at her in a half-sleepy way, "…maybe I should just…claim one of the healing pods - you know?…like a camping spot…or something…"

From where he walked on Shiro's other side, Keith half-chuckled, but it wasn't a very loud sound. "Yeah," he said, his tone completely straight and deadpan, "I can picture it now - 'Keep Reserved for Black Paladin.' "

Shiro laughed then, but it was a short, harsh sound. He bit back a noise of pain as they descended into the tunnels. The stabilizing device Coran had placed on his chest was still working, but some of the discomfort and pain of the injuries was beginning to come through.

Keith and Aurelis noticed, and each said something in a low voice to the med-techs. They quickened their pace and got Shiro into the healing pod within three minutes.

As Aurelis keyed in the code, Allura leaned over and kissed Shiro's forehead. "I'll be right here," she said. "Don't worry. Everything's all right."

Shiro looked up at her, his eyes already half-closed, and murmured "…kay…" in a tired whisper. His eyes shut completely just as the pod's surface frosted over.

Once the healing cycle commenced, Allura allowed herself to sink onto a nearby couch. Coran was sitting there as well, and he had brought Aurelis over. "Princess," he said, "I thought perhaps Aurelis should see to your neck."

Allura nodded, feeling exhausted. "Thank you, Coran," she said. "But - is there anyone else who needs aid before me? I wouldn't want to-"

Coran patted her shoulder. "No, no, Princess, we all insist. Your neck needs treatment, and we're all quite fine- nothing buts scrapes and bruises, really. You need treatment first."

Allura knew there was no arguing with Coran when he took that gentle but firmly insistent tone. She smiled up at her old friend. "All right," she said.

Rayzor had watched them put the Black Paladin into the healing pod from where he stood at the doorway to the healing chambers. As the Princess and her Advisor spoke, Rayzor turned and began to head back down the hall, towards the network of tunnels that lead to the Council's halls.

They would be wanting a full report within the hour.

Hearing voices coming from a side room, he slowed his pace and looked in. The four other Paladins were all splayed in various attitudes of exhaustion on different pieces of furniture, but they were all sitting close together.

"How long do you think Shiro will have to spend in the pod this time?" Lance asked Keith.

"I don't know," Keith said, his face serious. "We don't know how bad the damage was."

Pidge pushed her glasses up onto her nose, seeming more subdued than usual. "It looked - it looked pretty bad," she said. She tried to keep her voice steady, but it was clear that whatever had happened on the Druid's ship had shaken her.

Hunk put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "It was pretty bad," he agreed, "but he's going to be just fine." She leaned gratefully against him then, and he hugged her a little bit tighter.

"And don't forget," he continued, looking around at his other Paladins, his voice gaining some of its usual cheerfulness, "that Shiro still _totally_ freaked the witch out right there at the end. _Man_ , that was _awesome_!"

Pidge let out a shaky laugh at that. Keith's face split into a wide grin that might have been called a smile of dark enjoyment, and Lance leapt out of his seat, punching the air in excitement.

"Heck yeah he did!" he whooped, throwing out his arms and grinning at his fellow Paladins. "It was AMAZING!"

"Completely bad ass," Pidge agreed. She seemed to have regained most of her usual composure now.

"Really satisfying," Keith smirked. "I thought Haggar was going to pass out from terror." He sighed then, regret filling his voice. "Too bad Black missed."

"Well," Hunk said, "we all got out, so it all was okay in the end." He grinned over at his fellow Paladins. "And now Shiro and Allura are officially a couple! Big day, huh?"

Everyone nodded. From where he watched them, Rayzor felt something like a half-smile cross his face.

The Council could wait for a few minutes.

He reached towards the open door, intending to knock, but Keith saw him and waved him in. As Rayzor entered, the other Paladins turned to look at him, and their expressions were - well, not exactly friendly, but no longer completely hostile, either.

"Hey," Keith said by way of greeting. Rayzor came over to stand just outside their small circle.

"Hello," he said. The more informal human greetings still gave him trouble. And he did have a meeting to get to.

"I - I found something I thought you'd want back," he said. Lance's expression was a bit more frosty than usual, but everyone else seemed at least passingly interested.

Rayzor drew out the shining golden crystal Hunk had chosen for his Lion from a pack at his belt.

Hunk's jaw dropped open and he leapt forward as Rayzor held it out to him.

"WOW - HOW DID YOU - " Hunk exclaimed in delighted astonishment, a huge grin spreading across his face. "I - I jettisoned this right before the Galra caught us - how did you - "

Rayzor shrugged. "I was following your trail, and I came across it in the asteroid field. Something told me it was important, so I made sure to grab it."

Pidge was grinning over at Hunk, clearly enjoying his happiness and astonished relief at having the crystal he'd chosen for his Lion. Lance's face had split into a grin at the happiness on Hunk's face, and then the Blue Paladin got to his feet and turned towards Rayzor. He seemed to hesitate for an instant, but then he smiled and stuck out a hand.

"Hey - " he said. "Thanks, Rayzor. That - that means a lot."

Rayzor took hold of Lance's hand and shook it. "We're allies," he said. "It's what allies do."

Lance half laughed at that, but his laugh broke off into a surprised gasp of joy as Rayzor drew something else from the pouch at his belt and laid it on the side table near the center of their group. It was a cloth bundle, and when he pulled aside the fabric, there lay revealed -

"OUR BAYARDS?!" Pidge screamed, toppling off her chair in excited astonishment. She grabbed hold of hers in both hands, and as it activated, she jumped up and down, unabashedly screaming in unrestrained joy.

"HOW DID YOU - " Hunk began, but then Lance tossed him his bayard, and Hunk juggled both the golden crystal and his bayard for an instant, looking twice as delighted as before, if still a little puzzled.

"WHOOOOO!" Lance screamed in delight, holding his bayard sniper rifle out in front of him and grinning in delight. "Oh, baby, I _missed_ you!"

Keith stood furthest from the table, so Rayzor picked up the red bayard and handed it to him. It was a gesture that might have gone unnoticed by the others, but it signified a lot to Keith.

"Thanks," he said, and Rayzor nodded, just once.

"How…?" Keith asked, and then everyone else was clustering around Rayzor with questions about how he'd found their bayards.

"The Galra took these ages ago!" Lance said, his eyes wide - "How did you-"

"Did you infiltrate a Galra battlecruiser?!" Pidge asked, her mouth dropping open.

"Did you sneak in through the vents and steal them from a Galra vault?!" Hunk inquired, his face expressing a deep and almost scholarly interest.

Rayzor listened to all their questions, but said nothing. A hint of a smirk crossed his face, and then Keith rolled his eyes and called over to his fellow Paladins, "Guys, he's not going to tell us how he did it - he's got that kind of look on his face - "

Rayzor blinked, and it was almost a look of confusion. "What look?" he asked Keith.

Keith smirked at him. "The look that says, 'I did it because I am _awesome_ and the story is too long to tell you right now,'" he said, and Rayzor snorted in response, but said nothing.

Keith sighed. "Yeah, I thought so," he said.

The other Paladins made varying sound of disappointment, but none of them seemed completely put out by Rayzor's refusal to answer.

When Rayzor turned to heads towards the door, Hunk called out to him. "Hey - Rayzor!"

The leader of the guards turned and saw that Hunk had taken out - it looked like a small book, but there were many separate pages - and had begun to shuffle them on the table.

"Want to play cards with us?" Hunk asked. "We could build a tower, or we could play a game - it's fun!"

Rayzor hesitated, unsure of what to say. He did have to report to the Council, and that was probably going to take up quite some time…

Keith seemed to understand what he was thinking. "You don't have to," Keith said. "Aurelis just told us that we're all supposed to stay here until we get his medical approval or whenever we're back to full health - so…yeah, we'll be stuck in here for a while."

Lance looked over at Pidge. "Well - what do you want to do?"

Pidge adjusted her glasses, peering down at the deck. "Honestly? I don't know that many card games."

"That's okay," Hunk said. "We could just start by trying to build a tower. Or a house. Or a card Voltron! That's be cool, huh, Lance?"

Lance shook his head seriously, but his eyes were sparkling. "No, Hunk - that would be _**epic**_. But I think we'd need super-glue. Let's just stick with a house for now."

Rayzor still looked uncertain about the idea of joining in, and Keith shrugged a shoulder at him. "It's this or hide-and-go-seek," he said. "And there's no way in hell I'm going with option two."

Rayzor half-laughed then, and only realized he had when everyone went quiet. Pidge was staring at him with huge eyes, and even Keith looked surprised.

"DUDE!" Hunk said, looking over at Rayzor with a big smile on his face. "You _laughed_!"

" _Keith_ made a _joke_!" Lance said, seeming even more amazed at that concept.

Pidge howled in merriment at the expression on both Rayzor's and Keith's faces, and just then, Aurelis came in and asked which Paladin needed a medical scan first.

Everyone said that it should be Keith - even Rayzor - and Keith left the room with the med-tech, grumbling as he did so that just because he'd spent more time in healing pods than the rest of them put together didn't mean he was _any_ more prone to injury than _anyone_ else -

Rayzor did leave then, to go report to the Council, but he felt himself smiling as he did so.

It was only a brief expression, and it went unseen, but it was there.

He felt oddly reassured by seeing how the Paladins interacted, and even more so by the fact that they finally had accepted him as an ally.

It was strange, but Rayzor felt like seeing if any of them were still up for a - what had they called it? - a card game - after he'd finished meeting with the Council.

Maybe he'd even see if he could bring some of those purple brownies they'd all liked so much.


	11. Author's Note

Greetings, reader! Thank you for clicking on this story! :D

This story is part of a series, but it can be read on its own.

If you're new to these stories, or if you're wondering what order they go in, here's the order of my 'Lost Paladins' series:

1) Lost Paladins

2) Fever Dreams

3) Team Building Exercises

4) Pidge one-shot

5) Red Means Blood

6) Chocolate Chip Cookies

7) Quality Time (references my fic 'You Can't Take the Sky From Me')

8) Broken Barriers

9) On the Edge

10) Scavenger Hunt

11) Broken Paladins

12) Cabin Fever

and the newest two that I have just posted:

13) Adventures in Babysitting

14) Family Is More Than Blood

Yup...you can tell I really love the Voltron: Legendary Defender show, huh? :D

But please, feel free to read this story on its own merit if you like - I love it when people read and review my stories! :D :D

The stories in this series do build on each other, so it may make a bit more sense if you read the stories in the order listed above. I would hate for you to feel lost or confused. :-)

There should be some more stories coming - I never thought I'd write this many, but all of the encouragement and support from you wonderful readers led to _everything_ after 'Lost Paladins'. :D :D Your reviews and encouragement are the life-blood that help me continue to write this series. Thank you!

As always, reviews help me know what people enjoyed/thought was interesting - your feedback helps this writer stay encouraged and get more ideas! It really makes my day to read what people thought/enjoyed - and feel free to PM me if you like! :D :D

Happy Reading!


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